Outdoor Classroom Day

Firhouse Oak Tree on Ballycullen Drive is to have a future:

Thanks to the foresight, imagination and organisation of Rachel Freeman, a parent from our school who is an extraordinary horticulturist in both name and nature, the old oak tree, which sadly had to go to make room for the two new schools, is being lovingly recycled. Rachel, and her friend Wesley, who is a tree surgeon, have gained permission from the contractor of our new school building to use the wood from the trunk of this much loved old tree to create a bench for the school garden.

We are delighted with this initiative and look forward to inviting everyone in our school and local community to see the old tree trunk in its new form. The tree has been a local landmark for over eighty years and many children enjoyed climbing and swinging on it over the years.

It is always sad to see trees being taken down to make room for buildings and in this case the best possible compromise has been achieved because one of our parents took the initiative to do something positive. Rachel has spent the past five days on site removing foliage and helping the contractor to move the usable wood from the tree to our school garden. Many, many thanks to Rachel and also to Seán Smyth Construction and Western Construction for their invaluable help in moving the usable wood from the tree to our school.

​Also I'd like to add that our school is committed to planting trees on our new school grounds and so continue our school's history of contributing to our community by planting trees and flowers.